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About 500 plush dogs and cats are spread out with help from Lackawanna County Sheriff’s Department Cpl. Corey Cavalieri on Thursday at the Aaron Center in Dickson City, with more stuffed animals to be donated in the next few weeks.
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On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Joseph P. McDonald manned the switchboard at Fort Shafter in Hawaii when he received the alarming message that radar had detected a large number of planes approaching from the north, heading fast for Oahu.
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Nancy Smertz was surprised to discover the sign for her handicapped parking space at her home in Scranton’s Hill Section for 18 years was gone.

The sign was listed as one of 353 outdated handicapped parking signs throughout Scranton that the city is removing under a new sign renewal program.

Ms. Smertz, 60, said she never got the letter that city officials said they sent late last year to residents with handicapped parking signs. The letter informed them that they would have to fill out an annual renewal application and pay a $10 processing fee to keep their signs. She filled out the application and paid the $10 fee a week ago, but is still waiting for the sign to be put back.

“I didn’t get anything in the mail. I didn’t know what they were talking about,” Ms. Smertz said of the sign renewal application. “For $10, I would have paid it (before the sign was taken down). I just think they’re nickel-and-diming the wrong people.”

Last summer, the city amended an outdated, 1986 ordinance on the dispensing of handicapped parking signs. The change created an annual handicapped parking sign renewal program within the Police Department. The goal is to remove signs from spots that no longer qualify for a handicapped parking space and allow people on waiting lists to get such signs and spaces in a more timely manner, said Police Chief Carl Graziano.

Previously, once the city approved and installed a handicapped parking sign it would remain in place indefinitely because there was no monitoring of whether the sign was still needed and thus no turnover, Chief Graziano said.

“They would stay there to infinity because nobody was tracking them,” Chief Graziano said. “We said there’s got to be a system in place to track all of these.”

So, the city implemented the renewal program. The $10 fee is meant to defray the city’s expense of a sign, pole and installation that combined could cost up to $100 per sign, as well as costs of mailing notification letters, Chief Graziano said.

The city in November sent letters to 683 residents who had been approved over the years for handicapped parking signs, and gave them until March to submit a renewal application and pay the fee, the chief said.

Of the 683 residents, 330 people filled out the applications, there were no responses from 233, and 120 were returned as undeliverable, the chief said.

Those latter two categories, accounting for 353 handicapped parking signs, are the ones that the DPW in recent weeks has started removing, he said.

But so far around 10 residents who had signs removed told city officials they were not aware of the renewal application and still need their handicapped parking spaces, and these residents were told to reapply, Chief Graziano said.

Anyone with a valid handicapped registration license plate or placard from the state may apply with the city for a sign to be erected designating a parking space for vehicles operated for the use and benefit of a disabled person, according to the application. Applicants with private parking on their property, such as a driveway or garage, are not eligible for a handicapped parking sign and space from the city.

Ms. Smertz also questioned the city’s application requiring an applicant to “describe in detail why a handicapped sign is needed,” because that information already had been submitted to the state for a state-issued handicapped vehicle plate or placard that is the underlying qualification for a city sign and space.

“You had to give all that medical information to the state. What ... does the city need to go into detail for?” Ms. Smertz asked.

A lifelong city resident, Ms. Smertz has several disabilities and difficulty walking. As the soon as her handicapped parking sign was gone, her space was immediately scooped up by someone else. At times she has been forced to walk a block or more.

“I can’t walk that far,” Ms. Smertz said. “I’m just thankful they didn’t do this when there was snow.”

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